Summer Rioja

Hello Fellow Winos!

It is that time of the week again, you know what I'm talking about. The day you had plans of grandeur in the garden, pruning, weeding, cutting the grass... and then the rains come! So much for that! So I'll write my blog!

Today's pick is a 2005 LAN Rioja Crianza and for about $9.99 a bottle you will be blown away with the finesse and complexity of this wine. You will find coffee notes and cherry and vanilla tones as well. It has enough tannins to make it interesting but not too much to make it rough. I would highly recommend you buy this wine for the summer, it will go well with grilled meats, chicken, burgers and the summer sun!

You may ask "What is Crianza?" What is Rioja?" Well, I'm just the guy to ask... Lets start with Rioja. This is a prominent wine growing region in Spain located south of the Cantabrian Mountains which help protect the area from the fierce winds that northern Spain are known for. They produce a red and a white wine, Tinto and Blanco. The primary grapes for Tinto (red) are Tempranillo and Garnacha and the primary grape for the Blanco wines is Viura. There are a few more but so obscure not worth confusing any more than you already are. The soil is clay based with high concentrations of iron and chalk. There is so much iron in the soil it is red in color. On to Crianza...

There are four classifications of Rioja wines. Rioja, Crianza, Reserva and Grand Reserva. Rioja is the youngest spending less than a year in oak. Crianza are aged at least two years one of which is in oak. Reserva is aged at least three years one of which is in oak. Grand Reserva is aged two years in oak and three years in the bottle before released. Of course the older the more expensive.

I hope this shed a little light on the subject for you and Spanish wines, but the most important thing I want you to get from this is to buy Spanish wines as they are typically a great value!

Cheers!

J